Focus should be on infrastructure, manufacturing

However, Africa also has a lot of work to do, in order to better use China's investment, according to Fokuo.

"From the African side, perhaps one flaw is that knowledge of China is very limited and that needs to be improved," said Fokuo.

"Another is that there has to be improvements in local governance policies that support sector diversification."

Chinese companies say they see localization of their operations in Africa as the most sustainable way to meet both their interests and the development of African industry.

"That approach greatly reduces our costs, better serves the local market and helps achieve our long-term goals in Africa," said Zhang Yuzong, president of the southern Africa area office of Sinotruck (Hong Kong) Ltd, who is currently on a fact-finding mission on local investment conditions in Tanzania.

Last year, his company sold 12,000 heavy trucks across the continent worth total sales of $540 million.

Taking technology, skills and capital to Africa has becomes Zhang's priority.

"Previously what African people were using were mostly second-hand vehicles from Europe, the United States or Japan, but now we have seen a huge demand for better and newer cars, as well as a desire to produce cars by themselves," he said.

Obstacles ahead

Despite the desire to expand their businesses in Africa, Chinese companies still face obstacles.

"Before we establish a manufacturing company here, we have to evaluate the long-term stability of the society, consistency of its local policies, laws and regulations, to see if it is safe and profitable to do business here, just like all other investments," Zhang said.

He said he is not concerned about the relatively lower labor quality in Africa, due to its often poor education system, as they will be holding "special training sessions for every employee".

However, for some small-medium scale companies, the low quality of labor can severely hinder investor confidence and increase costs.

"We want to export other completed products back to China, but our financial capability is too limited to afford such a large scale training program," said Wang Lusheng, the general manager of a Chinese agricultural company in Tanzania, which grows and exports 3,000 tons of sisal - a crop that yields a stiff fibre traditionally used in making twine and rope - to China annually.

He also said the completed products made by sisal fibers are highly diversified and it's difficult for any investors to establish all of those manufacturing factories at once at this stage, but they are still trying to find more funds to set up factories in Tanzania.

lilianxing@chinadaily.com.cn